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There’s Life Beyond Your Latte

The search for the perfect coffee will soon be over with the arrival of the Flat White to Costa. Richer than a Latte, creamier than a Cappuccino, the coffee to unite all coffee lovers will be available at Costa stores nationwide from 28th January, 2010.

Gennaro Pelliccia, Costa's Italian Master of Coffee, says: “If you look at coffee on menus in the UK, we have Lattes and Cappuccinos that some people find too weak or too frothy. There is an Espresso for those who like a strong flavour and Americano for those who simply like black coffee. However, up until now, there has been a gap in the UK market for a rich, yet smooth and creamy coffee. The Flat White fills this space perfectly. It offers something for all coffee lovers.”

Drink Development:The aim is to deliver the next ‘big thing’ for coffee lovers and offer a premium product that’s not available at other coffee shop chains.

Through market research, Costa customers identified a gap in the market for a coffee which moves away from the volume of milk you find in a Latte and gets closer to the rich Espresso taste. The Flat White is the coffee to do exactly that.

The Flat Whites’ origins are disputed; some say it is an Australian invention while others think it was created in New Zealand. Wherever it’s from, Flat White has now found its way to this side of the world and been fined-tuned with a touch of Costa’s own unique coffee expertise.

It takes a great deal of skill to produce a Flat White. All Baristas have been trained to hand-craft the Flat White so it tastes delicious from the very first, to the very last sip. Only the purest essence of the coffee bean is extracted, resulting in a short Espresso called ‘Cortissimo’. This is then blended withmilk that’s been heated using a special technique, resulting in a smooth, velvety texture. Each drink is then hand finished with a distinctive pattern. The Perfect Cup Size:

Finding the right-sized cup for the Flat White has been carefully researched in order to ensure the perfect combination of milk and coffee. The Flat White at Costa will only be served in the primo (small) size to guarantee the taste and texture remain precisely as they should be.

Pelliccia concludes: “The Flat White is a popular drink in both Australia and New Zealand and has a strong following amongst these communities across the world. Although some independent coffee shops offer the drink to those in the know, we wanted to launch this drink nationwide and bring it to everyone. After all, coffee connoisseurs are everywhere. It shouldn’t just be those in our big towns and cities that get to enjoy the best.”

The Flat White will be available at Costa stores nationwide from 28th January 2010, costing £2.25.

Costa was founded by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa in 1971. Costa Coffee was the first UK coffee shop chain to commit sourcing beans from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.

Costa’s in-store baristas are all coached in the art of coffee making at the company’s unique Costa Coffee Academy based at its own roastery in Lambeth, London. The Costa Foundation was set up in 2006 to give something back to the communities within the countries from which Costa sources its coffee beans. The Costa Foundation works with an independent charity partner, Charities Trust, and is operating under the auspices of Charities Trust’s registered charity number 327489.

Costa is part of the Whitbread family of brands. For more information, please go to www.costa.co.uk

With over 1300 coffee shops across the UK and more than 600 internationally, Costa is a global success story with a growing network of retail sites. In addition to our Costa-owned shops, we also operate both corporate and individual franchises: Corporate, Individual, International Franchising.